Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally wins WNBA's Most Improved Player award

Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally hasbeen named the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, the WNBAannounced today.

Sabally received 37 of 60 votes from anational panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Los AngelesSparks guard Jordin Canada finished in second place with 18 votes,and Chicago Sky forward Alanna Smith was third with three votes.Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and Washington Mysticsguard Brittney Sykes each received one vote.

Sabally, the No. 2 overall pick in the2020 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, averaged career highs of18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals this season,up from 11.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.5 steals in2022. She ranked ninth in the league in scoring,10thin rebounding, 13thin assistsand fourth in steals. Sabally improved her three-point shootingfrom 23.3 percent last season to 36.1 percent in 2023. She alsoraised her overall field goal percentage to a career-best 43.5percent.

The 6-4 forward was selected to theAT&T WNBA All-Star Game for the second time overall and for thefirst time as a starter. She also participated in the Kia WNBASkills Challenge at AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023 as part of TeamWings alongside Dallas teammate Arike Ogunbowale.

A four-year WNBA veteran, Saballyhelped the Wings post their most wins (22) and highest regularseason winning percentage (.550) since 2008, when the franchise wasknown as the Detroit Shock. She also helped guide the Wings to theNo. 4 seed in the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. The Wings willtip off their Semifinals series against the Las Vegas Aces onSunday, Sept. 24 at Michelob ULTRA Arena (5 p.m. ET,ESPN2).

Sabally was named the WNBA WesternConference Player of the Week for games played from June 5-11 afteraveraging 19.3 points and a league-best 12.3 rebounds to help leadthe Wings to a 2-1 record in that span.

Sabally has played for the GermanWomen’s National Team and was an All-America selection at theUniversity of Oregon. She is the second player in Wings franchisehistory to win the Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award, joiningSkylar Diggins-Smith (2014, when the team was known as the TulsaShock).

In honor of being named the Kia WNBAMost Improved Player, Sabally will receive $5,150 and a trophydesigned to commemorate the achievement.

Below are the voting results for the2023 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award: